Major directors head to Toronto

Director Jason Reitman arrives at AARP's Movies for Grownups Film Festival on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013 at Regal Cinemas at L.A. LIVE in Los Angeles. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Invision for AARP/AP Images)Invision

New movies from veteran directors such as Jason Reitman, Noah Baumbach and Shawn Levy will make their world premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival when it kicks off in September.

Highlighting the lineup are world premieres of Reitman's "Men, Women & Children," Baumbach's "While We're Young" and Levy's "This Is Where I Leave You."

The list also contained some less expected names. Chris Rock will bring a rare directorial effort, "Top Five," about a comedy actor who tries to go dramatic that stars Kevin Hart.

The noted playwright Israel Horovitz will, at 75, make his feature directorial debut with "My Old Lady," a story of an inherited apartment and an unwanted guest; it stars Kevin Kline and another veteran who always seems to be up to new tricks, Maggie Smith.

And the actor Chris Evans, who while trying to save the world as Captain America also found time to direct and star in a new movie, will bring that film, titled "Before We Go," to the festival. The movie is a drama about a woman who misses her train and ends up in an urban underbelly. Alice Eve stars alongside Evans.

Toronto can be a place where some beloved North American filmmakers help kick off their new releases -- and, if things go right, a hefty awards campaign to go with it. Baumbach, Reitman and Levy all fit that bill.

Baumbach, who last year had a breakout with "Frances Ha," will come to the festival with "While We're Young," a story of two contrasting couples and the effect their lives have on one another; Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Amanda Seyfried and Adam Driver star.

Reitman's "Men" marks a return for the Toronto favorite after his turn to harder core drama with last year's "Labor Day."

Based on Chad Kultgen's controversial novel, Reitman's new movie looks at modern sexual mores and how they reverberate through the lives of parents and children. It features a rather unexpected star, Adam Sandler.

Levy, best known for directing the "Night at the Museum" franchise, marks a shift to more relationship-based drama with a look at a family that comes together in trying circumstances, based on Jonathan Tropper's novel and starring Jason Bateman.

Levy is not the only studio director mixing things up. Comedy maestro David Dobkin ("Wedding Crashers") will present the world premiere of his coming-home legal dramedy "The Judge," starring Robert Downey Jr.

Longtime director Ed Zwick, not particularly known for fact-based drama, will premiere "Pawn Sacrifice," his story about Bobby Fischer as the chess champion gets ready to face off against Russian chess grandmaster Boris Spassky.

Though carrying a reputation for awards-ready fare, a number of commercially minded movies will make their world or North American premieres at Toronto as well, including "Good Kill," "Gattaca" director Andre Niccol's story of a drone pilot that reunites him with star Ethan Hawke, and Antoine Fuqua's "The Equalizer," the Denzel Washington-starring revival of Robert Woodward 1980s TV series.

Screenwriter Dan Gilroy makes his directorial debut with "Nightcrawler," an L.A. noir that will see Jake Gyllenhaal return to Toronto after bringing two films to the gathering last year.

Longtime film and TV creator Richard LaGravenese marks his entry to the alternative-romance genre with "The Last Five Years" (the upcoming "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby" and "What If" also fit the bill).

And James Gandolfini's final film role will be on display in "The Drop," a crime drama starring Tom Hardy that marks the feature screenwriting debut of Dennis Lehane; it is directed by Michael Roskam.

A number of indie stalwarts will roll out new movies, including "Manglehorn," a story about an ex-con starring Al Pacino and Holly Hunter.